The Avengers watch Captain America
by KayTheCap
Summary: When a mysterious box appears one night on the table, the Avengers are left with two notes and a movie about their fearless leader, Captain. How will this be handled? Why was this left to them? And what happens next? StevexTony, ClintxNatasha
1. Chapter 1

**I see a lot of "The Avengers Watch Iron Man", but not a lot of "The Avengers Watch Captain America". Solution? I am going to make one. Here's the first chapter. It will be relatively short, maybe 3 pages or so. Enjoy!**

The Avengers were seated in Avengers Tower, having a meal together one evening that was made by Bruce because no one else knew how to cook. Steve and Thor weren't used to the technology, Tony refused (he only used the coffeemaker and microwave anyways), Natasha just didn't cook, and Clint would blow it all up.

The aroma of food had taken Tony from his lab (surprisingly), and he sat next to his boyfriend, Steve.

"Mmmm, meat!" Thor cried. "It's delicious!" He shoved the piece of steak in his mouth, getting most of it in.

Steve chuckled lightly at his teammate's antics, not saying anything. He had gotten used to the fact that Thor never learned. Tony, however, leaned his elbow onto the table, swallowing what food he had in his mouth, and got ready to make a snarky remark.

"Woah there, big guy," he smirked. "Don't choke."

Thor paused his eating. "Wha?" he said through a mouth full of food. Clint started laughing and nearly fell out of his chair, but immediately stopped at the glare he was given by Natasha.

"Don't even try, Tony," Steve muttered, taking Tony's hand under the table when he opened his mouth to say something snarky at Thor. Tony paused, looked at Steve, then shrugged.

"Whatever," he said. "He'll do it again with his Poptarts."

"POPTARTS?" the god roared, slamming his hands on the table and standing up immediately. "WHERE?"

"Thor! Calm down!" Steve cried. "And sit! We don't have Poptarts right now, but Natasha said she would get some later."

"No, I didn't!" the agent replied.

Steve gave her a pleading look and was about to say something to Thor when a bright light shone in the dining area. There was a thunk as a cardboard box hit the table. On the top was a typed out note:

_Captain Rogers,_

_Do not be alarmed, this is safe._

_Hoping you're well,_

_Agent P.C._

Bruce read the message out loud, and everyone around the table stared at it. "Do we open it?" Bruce finally asked. "It says it's from Agent P.C.-"

"Agent Coulson, perhaps?" Natasha interrupted.

"Most likely," Steve nodded. "I think it should be opened..." He took the box, ripping the tape off and opening it to see Styrofoam fluff things. Thor grabbed them off the table and started throwing them in the air.

"Look! I have made it snow!" he yelled happily.

"Attention span of a gold fish," Tony muttered. "He's got it."

Natasha shot him a warning look, and Tony grinned back at her.

Steve, meanwhile, stared at the item in the box. There, on the top in bold letters on the movie case were the words Captain America: The First Avenger. There Steve stood on the cover, in his 1940's attire. Schmidt was behind him, and Steve shuddered at the sight. It wasn't pleasant seeing your enemy right behind you, even if it is on a movie case. Below Schmidt was Colonel Phillips, and below him was Peggy Carter with the same red curls and red lipstick, the same leader stance, the same everything. Bucky was on Steve's left, looking quite serious. Steve felt a pang of sorrow for his friend, and set the box down, clearing his throat to catch everyone's attention.

"It seems that it's a movie about me," he muttered. "From the 1940's."

Clint choked on his water. "What? A movie?"

Thor had stopped throwing the Styrofoam packaging, and turned to stare. "A movie, like Cinderella?"

"Yes, but about Cap," Tony said blankly, his face suddenly serious. If they did watch, his father would be on there. He scowled. Yes, his perfect father that loved Captain America so much he neglected his son in order to find the missing hero. To think what his father would say when his hero was dating his son, ha! Tony snorted in amusement to himself.

Steve nodded. "I have no idea how, but... it is. I... should we watch it? I don't think it's a trap."

"Open it first, Steve," Bruce said, coming to stand by the Captain.

Steve didn't open it immediately, just kept fidgeting with the movie case. He turned it over, frowned, and turned it back to the front. Thor sighed, Natasha tapped her foot, Clint stared at the case, Tony stared at Steve, and Bruce just waited patiently.

It was suddenly wrenched out of his hands by Natasha. "Sorry, Cap, you were too slow."

Clint grinned; about to make a joke, but Tony beat him to it.

"He is close to 70 years old, anyways."

"Ha, ha, very funny," Steve muttered.

A note slid past her hands and onto the table. Steve slowly took it, studying it first. It was typed, like the note on the box. He read it aloud.

"_Steve,_

_We haven't seen each other in a while, but please watch this. It starts out with the Tesseract, and ends with you in the modern world. Hope you're doing well; please give my regards to the Avengers._

_Agent P.C._"

Steve looked frustrated. "Who is this Agent P.C.?"

Clint shrugged. "We'll figure it out later. I want to know what life was for you before being a Capsicle!"

Steve froze, and then went to grab the movie case from Natasha. Natasha had faster reflexes and moved the case above her head, raising an eyebrow. "Have a problem, Captain?"

"No," Steve muttered. "Not at all. Let's go watch it."

Natasha popped the movie out and the Avengers went to go watch the story of their friend, the Captain.

"We will watch Captain's adventures; do you not think that that is private?" Thor asked a bit worried. Who knew what was on there!

Steve shrugged. "It's alright; you all know most of it anyways..." _I hope_, Steve thought.

Once the movie was put in and everyone settled onto a chair or couch, JARVIS started up the movie.


	2. Chapter 2

_The movie started out with what looked like a blizzard, lights appearing and disappearing moments later. The figure of a man with a light came into focus, and he waved down a truck. Two men hopped out._

"_Are you the guys from Washington?" the man with the light asked._

"_You get many other visitors out here?" The man who was driving asked, coming over to the light man and started walking._

"_How long you been on site?" the second man asked._

"_Since this morning," the man with the light replied. "A Russian oil team called it in about 18 hours ago."_

"_How come nobody's spotted it before?" the second man asked._

"_It's really not that surprising," the man with the light turned to look at them. "This landscape's changing all the time."_

_The camera was brought back to show the land around them, which was fully snow. No buildings were in site, and the sun was rising in the background. A man was shown walking across with the same red light as the man talking with the other two._

"_You got any idea what this thing is exactly?" One of the men asked._

"_I dunno," said the other, "it's probably a weather balloon."_

"_I don't think so," the man with the light chuckled. "You know, we don't have the equipment for a job like this."_

_The first man turned to look at him and asked, "So how long before we can start craning it out?"_

"_I don't think you quite understand! You guys are gonna need one hell of a crane! "_

_The camera whipped around and showed men next to a large item, and a man standing on top with a flashlight studying it. The camera zoomed back in to show the two men's faces, surprised. Then, the camera zoomed back out to show all the lights they had put up._

_The scene changed to a truck with a laser attached, which was creating a hole through the ice and ceiling of the ship._

Steve stared at the screen, frowning. What did this have to do with anything?

_Suddenly they had cut through and it fell to the ground. Men were lowered down into the plane to look around. They were wearing masks and had flashlights._

"_Base, we're in," the first man who came down said._

"_What is this?" The second man asked._

_Warily, they kept searching. The first man slid._

"_Careful!"_

_They reached the control center, and the man reached down, seeing something. He wiped away carefully, and the camera didn't show what it was._

Clint groaned. "Come on! What is it?" Natasha glared at him, and he shut up quickly.

"_Lieutenant!" the man cried, looking behind him at the man. "What is it?"_

"_My god," the lieutenant muttered. "Base! Give me a line to the kernel." There was mumbling from the headpiece, which sounded like, "it's 3 AM, sir". "I don't care what time it is. This one's waited long enough._

_The camera showed the Captain America shield, zooming in slowly._

Steve's face had become like stone, no emotion showing at all. He had known what was going on ever since they had entered the plane. It was in the modern day, after the plane had gone down.

Tony took Steve's hand in his, knowing how Steve was most likely feeling. It wasn't every day you watched a movie about yourself.

_The scene blacked out, and the words Tønsberg, Norway March, 1942 appeared. A man cut across the camera, out of breath and running. He entered inside and locked the door, and in a foreign language he cried, "They've come for it!"_

"_They have before," the man coming down the stairs said, coming over the younger man._

"_Not like this," the man panted._

"Who is 'they'?" Thor asked. "And what are they looking for?"

Steve shrugged, though he had an inkling of what it was. "We'll find out soon enough, don't worry."

Thor seemed pleased enough with the answer and turned back to the movie.

"_Let them come," the older man said. "They'll never find it."_

_The ceiling started crumbling debris on them from the loud noise of tanks rolling in. The two men turned and watched the door, the younger man frightened. Everything was shaking, the chandelier and other items on tables as well. The noise stopped suddenly, but a moment later the door was broken down. The young man was knocked over, and the older man turned away, his arm covering his face._

_He leaned down and picked up a piece of debris, showing the dead young man._

_The scene changed to outside, where the bulldozer was. A lone car drove next to the dozer, and the camera zoomed in to show Red Skull's insignia._

Steve held Tony's hand so tight that Tony thought it would break. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Erm, Steve?"

Steve realized what he did and pulled his hand away. "Sorry," he muttered, giving Tony a forced half smile.

Tony just shrugged and turned back to the movie.

_A man's feet were shown stepping out of the vehicle, and started walking. His face was still not shown._

_The scene changed to three men trying removing the lid of what was most likely a coffin._

_A man was watching them. He yelled, "Open it!"_

_The older man was shown on the floor, looking around bewilderedly._

_The four men were shown again, and the man shouted, "Quickly, before he gets-" suddenly he stopped and turned towards the door, where a man stood._

"_It has taken me a long time to find this place," the man said with an accent. The camera showed the man's face finally. "You should be commended."_

Steve had to take deep breaths to stop himself from breaking the TV, just to get Schmidt off the screen. He hated that man, and with a deep burning passion too.

"_Help him up," Schmidt commanded, and a man ran over to help the old man up. "I think that you are a man of great vision. And, in this way, we are much alike."_

"_I am nothing like you," the man cut in quickly._

"_No, of course, but what others see as superstition, you and I know to be a science."_

"_What you seek is just a legend," the old man said warily._

"_Then why make such an effort to conceal it?" Schmidt took his hat off and started walking to the tomb, handing his hat off. By himself he shoved the tomb cover off with ease, and there laid the body._

Tony made a face. "Well, that's not disgusting."

Bruce chuckled lightly.

_Schmidt reached between the hands of the corpse, grabbing the cube that was there._

Thor gasped. "The Tesseract?" he cried. "How?"

Natasha nodded. "I think so, but, it doesn't look so…"

"Glowy?" Steve asked.

Natasha nodded.

"_The tesseract was the jewel of Odin's treasure room," he said as he studied the cube. He opened his fingers and let the cube smash to the floor. "It is not something one buries. But I think it is close, yes?" He got close to the man's face._

"_I cannot help you."_

"_No, but maybe you can help your village. You must have some friends out there. Some little grandchildren, perhaps? I have no need for them to die."_

"I certainly hope not," Bruce muttered.

_The camera showed a tank outside, and the man looked at Schmidt again, contemplating. Schmidt turned to look at the gold wall that had a tree on it, starting to walk towards it. "Yggdrasil. Tree of the world. Guardian of wisdom. And fate, also." He looked down at the snake that was coiled around a root. He gently traced the head, then pressed in the eye. The snake came out like a drawer, and he took it. It was clear he had found what he wanted._

_The man stared at Schmidt, knowing it was too late. As Schmidt opened the box, a deep blue light came over the room. "And the Führer digs for trinkets in the desert. You have never seen this, have you?"_

"_It's not for the eyes of ordinary men."_

"_Exactly," Schmidt closed the box, walking back to the man. "Give the order to open fire."_

Bruce shook his head. "Of course," he muttered to himself. "Horrible.."

Steve nodded in agreement. Luckily the man was gone now.

"_Fool!" the old man cried out. "You cannot control the power you hold. You will burn!"_

"_I already have," Schmidt said plainly, pulling a gun out of his pocket and shooting the man. The camera showed his face, and he rubbed the side of his face, the camera lowering to show the once silver skull on his lapel, now covered in blood, the sounds of explosions in the background, shaking the camera._

"JARVIS, pause the movie please," Natasha murmured, the room silent.

After moments of the silence, Steve awkwardly cleared his throat. "We should continue.."

Tony nodded. "Of course. JARVIS, if you would, please.."

_The scene changed, showing a bridge. A man's voice was heard, calling out a name. "O'Connell, Michael. Kaminsky, Henry." The scene changed again, going down the line of men holding newspapers. _U-BOATS TORPEDO SHIP OFF VIRGINIACOAST _read the Manhattan, and the last man to appear was reading the Daily News, which read _NAZIS RETAKE ZHITOMIR.

"_Boy, a lot of guys getting killed over there."_

"_Rogers, Steven."_

_The Manhatten newspaper boy set his newspaper down, standing quickly._

"WOAH, wait! That's you?" Clint cried. "That's Captain America?"

Steve's lips twitched. "The one and only. A scrawny boy from Brooklyn doesn't seem like much of a hero, does he?" His voice had some bitterness to it, but no one noticed except Tony. He frowned. He never liked Steve like this.

"_It kind of makes you think twice about enlisting, huh?" the man who had been sitting next to Steve said._

"_Nope," Steve said, setting the paper down. The man looked surprised, watching Steve walk off._

_Steve came up to the man who was enlisting. "Rogers," he said. He looked Steve over, then at the file. "What'd your father die of?"_

"_Mustard gas," he said, looking away then back. "He was in the 107__th__ Infantry, I was hoping I could be assigned-"_

"_Your mother?" he interrupted, not bothering to look at Steve._

"_She was a nurse in a TB ward. Got hit. Couldn't shake it."_

Bruce looked over at Steve. "Sorry…"

Steve shrugged. "It was alright," he muttered. "It's been years. I wasn't very close to my father anyways, and my mother.."

Bruce nodded and Steve looked back at the screen. As much as he tried to focus, he couldn't.

_Steve's health issues slowly scrolled by, such as asthma, scarlet fever, easy fatigability, and heart trouble were just a few on the list. The man looked up at Steve. "Sorry, son."_

"_Look, just give me a chance."_

"So you've always been stubborn?" Tony teased.

"Pretty much."

"_You'd be ineligible on your asthma alone."_

"_Is there anything you can do?" Steve asked, feeling desperate._

"_I'm doing it." He reached forward and grabbed the stamper. "I'm saving your life." He stamped the paper with a 4F. Steve's face appeared, looking dejected._

_The sound of a movie started, and the black and white film was shown with a German Nazi flag. "War continues to ravage Europe." Scenes of battle came up. "But help is on the way." Men marched by the camera. Men were being checked out. "Every able-bodied young man is lining up to serve his country." The camera scrolled down to show Steve, watching the advertisement for the war. "Even little Timmy is doing his part-" It showed a boy picking apart scrap metal. "-collecting scrap metal. Nice work, Timmy!"_

"_Who cares?" a man called out in one of the front rows. "Play the movie already."_

"_Hey, you wanna show some respect?" Steve said._

"_Meanwhile, overseas, our brave boys are showing the Axis powers that the price of freedom is never too high." A woman also in the theatre was tearing up._

"_Let's go! Get on with it!" the same man yelled. People were starting to look at him. "Hey, just start the cartoon!"_

"_Hey, you wanna shut up?" Steve said louder, leaning forward. The man stood up suddenly, turning to face Steve. The movie played, "Together with allied forces, we'll face any threat, no matter the size."_

_The scene changed to an alley, where the man punched Steve in the face._

Tony made a face. "Ouch."

Steve nodded. "It happened a lot, so this was nothing new."

"What do you mean?" Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"I never stood down to bullies is all."

_Steve fell face down to the ground, scrambling to his feet. He wouldn't go down. The man grabbed his shoulder and punched him again, watching in satisfaction as he fell into the trashcan. Steve grabbed the lid, using it as a shield. The man grabbed the lid and wrenched it away, punching Steve in the face again._

Thor laughed slightly, and a stern look from Natasha made him stop. "I am sorry; it's just difficult to see Captain as a small man being beaten up. He is usually the one beating someone up."

Steve chuckled lightly at the thought, and then started laughing more and more. Tony slowly joined him, then Thor, and finally all the Avengers were laughing along.

"As bad as that sounds, it's true," Clint pointed out, and the Avengers all nodded in agreement.

"Well, let's continue, shall we?" Tony pointed to the screen. "JARVIS."

The movie instantly started playing again.

_Steve stood back up again, rotating his arm. Blood was coming from his mouth._

"_You just don't know when to give up, do you?" the man asked with a grin._

_Steve looked like he was going to fall over. "I can do this all day," he lied. He went to throw a punch, but the man caught his fist, punching him instead. Steve fell down back into the trashcans, not getting up this time._

"_Hey!" a voice called, grabbing the man's arm and pulling him away from Steve and down the alley. "Pick on someone your own size." It was Bucky. The man went to punch Bucky, but Bucky missed and punched him instead. The man staggered sideways and turned his back to Bucky, leaning his hands on his knees. Bucky finally kicked his backside, and the man ran off with a "Uh!"_

Steve smiled sadly. "He always was the one to save me."

_Bucky watched him run off, and then turned to Steve, who was getting up and leaning against the fence._

"_Sometimes I think you like getting punched," Bucky said as he came over to Steve, who was bent over._

"_I had him on the ropes," Steve muttered._

Tony shook his head. Just like Steve to say that.

"_How many times is this?" Bucky asked, picking up the Military slip that had fallen. "You're from Paramus now? You know it's illegal to lie on the enlistment form. And seriously, Jersey?"_

"You did that more than once?" Clint said. "Well, you're determined."

"Of course, I wasn't just going to sit at home and watch others get killed."

_Steve looked at Bucky, surprised. "You get your orders?"_

_Bucky paused for a second, looking down then raising his head. "The 107__th__," he said. "Sergeant James Barnes, shipping out for England first thing tomorrow."_

_Steve looked down and shook his head. "I should be going." He wiped his hands off and looked at Bucky._

_Bucky looked at him seriously, finally breaking into a smile. He put an arm around Steve's shoulders, pulling Steve with him. "Come on, man. My last night. I got to get you cleaned up." Bucky tossed the enlistment form to the side._

"_Why? Where are we going?" Steve asked._

"_The future," Bucky said, shoving a paper into Steve's chest. Steve took it and opened it. _WORLD EXPOSITION OF TOMORROW 1943_, it read._

"JARVIS, pause please," Steve said. Everybody looked at him questioningly.

"Maybe we should take a quick break," was all he said.

"But it's only been 11 minutes in," Clint pointed out, but Natasha elbowed him.

"We'll be back in about 10 minutes, we've got to talk," Nat said.

"Alright, I've got to talk to Tony," Steve muttered, getting up and pulling Tony with him.

**Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be the talks, and then on with the movie. : ) Sorry if there's any incorrect info or mistakes. Thank you!**

**-KayTheCap**


	3. Chapter 3

Tony followed Steve into Tony's bedroom, closing the door behind him with a soft click. He sat down next on the bed, and Steve joined him.

"I… I'm not sure when he's going to come in, but your fath-"

Tony's eyes darkened. "Stop, Steve. It's fine. Whatever, the old man will be on the screen. I don't care."

Steve shook his head. "No, Tony. There is something wrong about it, and you just won't admit it. Look, I know how much it means to you, and I'm sorry." He looked at Tony, who was just staring at the floor. "But you, Tony, are a great man. Your father was a great inventor, but he lacked your personality."

"So you're saying that my snarkiness and sarcasm are-"

"If they make you Tony Stark, then yes," Steve interrupted, pulling Tony into a hug.

Tony wrapped his arms around Steve. "Alright," he muttered. "Well, how are you doing? You know what I mean, don't give me that look."

"I- I guess it's hard, to see them," Steve said, trying to shrug off the feelings. "It's just a bit overwhelming."

"A bit?"

"Okay, very overwhelming."

Tony chuckled lightly. "You're doing alright now, Cap. Just know we can pause the movie at any time, okay?"

Steve gave a small smile. "Right. Well, it's been almost 5 minutes, maybe we can go make some popcorn."

"Sure, but I'll do it." Tony said with a grin.

"Okay, fair enough." Steve said, and together they went to the kitchen to make some food.

Meanwhile, Bruce, Thor, Natasha, and Clint sat in the living room, not saying anything for a while. Finally Clint spoke up. "So, why are we here?"

Natasha looked at him. "Because we're waiting for them to get back."

"I thought we were going to-"

"No, I knew Steve needed to talk to Tony, so I thought this was the perfect time. All I have to say is right now; Steve's life seems pretty messy."

Thor nodded. "Indeed, it is messy."

The other two nodded in agreement. "I just hope it gets better," Clint said.

Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"Right," Clint muttered. "Nevermind."

Tony and Steve entered the room, bowls of popcorn in their hands. Thor jumped up.

"The buttered cornpops!" he cried.

"Popcorn, Thor," Bruce corrected.

Steve set them down on the table, everyone grabbing one (Thor with the largest, of course) and settled back down.

"Are we ready to start again?" Bruce asked.

"I think so, yes," Steve nodded. "Er, JARVIS, please play the movie."

The AI started the movie right where it left off.

_The newspaper turned into the real thing, they were at the expo. The camera rolled down slowly to show Bucky and Steve walking through a crowd of people._

"_I don't see what the problem is," Bucky said. "You're about to be the last eligible man in New York. You know there's three and a half million women here?"_

"_Well, I'd settle for just one," Steve said._

"What about me?" Tony teased lightly.

"Of course, but I don't think you're a woman, Tony."

"So you would choose one over me?"

"Not saying that. Past me was talking about a woman, I never thought of a man."

"Can you two solve your love problems later?" Clint asked, making a face.

"Sure thing, Legolas," Tony replied.

"_Good think I took care of that," Bucky said, a smile coming on his face as he started waving. The camera showed two young ladies, one calling out, "Hey, Bucky!"_

_Steve followed along, not liking where this was going. "What'd you tell her about me?"_

"_Only the good stuff."_

_Steve ran a hand along his hair, and then squared his shoulders as they walked closer._

_Time skip to a few minutes later, and a voice over a speaker was heard, "Welcome to the Modern Marvels Pavilion and the world of tomorrow. A greater world. A better world." Bucky was shown with the dark-haired girl holding his hand, her blond friend next to her. Steve was following behind at a distance._

"_Oh, my god!" Bucky's date cried. "It's starting!" She and her friend started running, pulling Bucky along with her. Steve followed behind awkwardly, hurrying to catch up._

"_Ladies and gentlemen," one of the girls on stage said. "Mr. Howard Stark!" Howard ran onto stage, taking his hat off and handing it to one of the ladies before giving her a large kiss._

Tony looked away from the television, acting as if his father weren't on there. Steve bumped him softly, and Tony turned to give him a small smile.

_Howard took the microphone, wiping his mouth off. "Ladies and gentlemen," the camera showed Steve holding out popcorn for his date to take. She looked at him, and he took the popcorn back. "What if I told you that in just a short few years, your automobile won't even have to touch the ground at all?" _

Tony snorted. "Tried that one already, doesn't work. It's just too complicated, gravity always manages to disagree."

_Girls took the wheels off the car. "Yes. Thanks, Mandy. With Stark Gravitic Reversion Technology, you'll be able to do just that." He turned a knob and pulled a lever up, the car slowly starting to levitate._

"_Holy cow," Bucky muttered._

_The car continued to float, but suddenly the engines sparked, and the car crashed to the ground. "I did say a few years, didn't I?" Howard tried to cover it up._

_Steve looked behind him and saw one of the recruiting posters which said, _I WANT YOU.

_Bucky started turning. "Hey Steve, what do you say we treat these girls…" he trailed off when he noticed Steve was gone._

Natasha laughs to herself. Of course he would go again. Only Steve would. If at first you don't succeed, try again. That should be his motto.

_The scene changed to the United States Armed Services Recruitment building. A man walked up to the platform, where a light shone on his face and he was shown in the face of a soldier. The woman next to him giggled, taking his arm and saying, "Come on, soldier."_

_Steve came up next, standing on the platform. His head barely reached where the jaw of the soldier was. A hand pushed him, Bucky's hand. "Come on, you're kind of missing the point of a double date. We're taking the girls dancing."_

"_You go ahead. I'll catch up with you," he said with no intention to at all._

"_You're really gonna do this again?"_

"_Well, it's a fair. I'm gonna try my luck." Steve said with a nod._

"_As who, Steve from Ohio?" Bucky snapped. "They'll catch you. Worse, they'll actually take you."_

"_Look, I know you don't think I can do this-" Steve started._

"_This isn't a back alley, Steve," Bucky interrupted. "It's war."_

_A man was walking down the hallways while they argued._

"_I know it's a war," Steve insisted._

"_Why are you so keen to fight?" Bucky asked, exasperated. "There are so many important jobs."_

"_What do you want me to do? Collect scrap metal in-"_

"_Yes!"_

"_-my little red wagon?"_

"_Why not?"_

"_I'm not gonna sit in a factory, Bucky. Bucky, come on. There are men laying down their lives. I got no right to do any less than them."_

"Well, you didn't do any less," Clint said with a grin. "Look at you now, Captain America!"

"I would have died my first week in war," Steve mused. "That's if I weren't Captain America."

Nobody really knew what to say after that, so the movie started again.

"_That's what you don't understand," Steve said. "This isn't about me."_

"_Right," Bucky said with a shake of his head, his voice monotone. "'Cause you got nothing to prove."_

_Steve sighed and stared at him. Dr. Erskine was watching them from the side._

_One of the girls Bucky had brought yelled to him, "Hey Sarge! Are we going dancing?"_

_Bucky turned around, stretching his hands out. "Yes, we are." He gave a small smile before turning back to Steve, starting to back away. "Don't do anything stupid until I get back."_

"_How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you."_

_Bucky shook his head and walked back over to him. "You're a punk." He leaned in and gave him a hug._

"_Jerk," Steve said half-heartedly. "Be careful." He watched him leave, calling out, "Don't win the war until I get there!"_

_Bucky turned on his heel, saluted, then turned back to the ladies. "Come on girls," he said. "They're playing our song."_

_Steve put his hands in his pockets and looked down as he walked to the desk, Dr. Erskine still standing there nonchalantly._

_Steve was shown in a Doctor office, rolling his sleeves down. A nurse walked in to the doctor and whispered something to him._

"_Wait here," was all he said as he walked out of the room._

_Steve stared at him. "Is there a problem?"_

"_Just wait here." The doctor said, stepping out of the curtains._

_Steve turned around to look at the sign, which was bold and in all capital letters, _**IT IS ILLEGAL TO FALSIFY YOUR ENLISTMENT FORM.**

"I was freaking out bad," Steve confessed. "I thought they figured me out. And in a way they did."

Everyone turned to look at him questioningly.

"You'll see."

_Steve got up, thinking that they had found out. He sat down on the chair and started pulling his shoes back on when a man dressed in a military uniform came into the curtained off area, putting his arms behind his back._

_Steve straightened up slowly, staring at him, waiting for who knew what to come. The curtain opened again, and an older man entered the room. He was wearing glasses and a brown coat, and had a file in his hand. "Thank you," he muttered to the military uniform man. He had a heavy German accent. The man stepped back out and closed the curtain._

"_So," he began, looking at the file. "You want to go overseas. Kill some Nazis."_

_Steve looked confused. "Excuse me?"_

_The man closed the folder. "Dr. Abraham Erskine." He reached out his hand as Steve stood up. "I represent the Strategic-"_

"Oh, please don't tell me-"Tony groaned.

"_Scientific Reserve." They shook hands._

"Oh, okay. Just kidding."

"_Steve Rogers," Steve said with a nod. Dr. Erskine also nodded and set his file down._

"_Where are you from?" Steve asked._

"_Queens," he replied. "73__rd__ Street and Utopia Parkway. Before that, Germany." He noticed the look on Steve's face. "This troubles you?"_

"_No."_

"_Where are you from, Mr. Rogers? Is it New Haven? Or Paramus? Five exams in five different cities-"_

"_That might not be the right file," Steve cut in suddenly._

"_No, it's not the exams I'm interested in," Dr. Erskine said. "It's the five tries. But you didn't answer my question. Do you want to kill Nazi's?" He walked over to Steve._

_Steve didn't answer right away. "Is this a test?"_

"_Yes."_

_Steve took more time to reply, looking at the Doctor. "I don't want to kill anyone. I don't like bullies. I don't care where they're from."_

There was a sudden whoop from Clint. "That's our Cap!"

"Clint, shut the hell up!" Natasha growled from where she was with her head in his lap.

"Right, sorry."

"_Well, there are already so many big men fighting this war. Maybe what we need now is a little guy." Steve shifted uncomfortably. "I can offer you a chance." He turned around and threw the curtain open. Steve turned to grab his coat. "Only a chance."_

"_I'll take it."_

"_Good." He looked to the file on the counter. "So where is the little guy from? Actually?" He reached for the stamp, pausing to look at Steve._

"_Brooklyn."_

_Dr. Erskine stamped and closed the file, handing it to Steve. "Congratulations, Soldier."_

_Steve immediately opened the file to see the _**1A** _standing boldly on the file paper. Steve sighed in relief as he read over the file. He was doing it, he was finally in the Army._

"Captain did it!" Thor yelled, flinging the (fortunately, empty) bowl in the air. Natasha caught it with her foot.

"Of course he would, Thor. Otherwise, what's the point of him being Captain America if he wasn't in the Army?" Natasha asked dryly.

"Right."

_The scene changed to mountains, the camera paneling across to a window._

_The scene changed to inside, a laboratory. A man walked through. "Are you ready, Dr. Zola?"_

_There was a man with glasses shown in what looked like a magnifying glass._

"_My machine requires the most delicate calibration," the man who was clearly Dr. Zola said. The camera turned to show the man, looking in who knew what. "Forgive me if I seem overcautious."_

"What machine?" Clint muttered.

"Maybe if you shut up, Katniss, we could find out," Tony snapped.

"For the last goddamn time, stop calling me Katniss or anything of the sort!"

"Hey, stop, both of you!" Steve cut in.

There was immediate silence, and the movie started back up.

"_Are you certain that those conductors of yours can withstand the energy surge long enough for transference?" Schmidt was shown looking at a photo, then setting it down. Another photo was shown in a book that looked similar, but in color._

"_With this artifact I am certain of nothing. I fear it may not work at all." He walked up to Schmidt, who was carrying in his hands the same drawer that held the tesseract he found earlier. He opened it and the light of the Tesseract came pouring out, Schmidt staring at it intently._

_Dr. Zola quickly changed his glasses for dark lens goggles, and Schmidt picked up something that would carry the Tesseract for him. He lowered it onto the Tesseract, then pulled it up and carried the blue cube to a very complicated looking machine, where he set the container in and twisted it sharply._

"_Twenty percent," Dr. Zola said quietly, slowly turning a knob. "Forty. Sixty. Stabilizing at 70%." Schmidt walked forward briskly and pushed Dr. Zola out of the way._

"_I have not come all this way for safety, Doctor," he snapped, pushing the dial forward. The machine crackled with energy, and suddenly all the machines were surrounded in a blue light. Dr. Zola and Schmidt stared in wonder before the control burst and sparked._

"_What was that?" Dr. Zola muttered._

"_I must congratulate you, Arnim," Schmidt started, pointing to the Tesseract and then turning Dr. Zola around. "Your designs do not disappoint. Though they may require some slight reinforcement."_

"_The exchange is stable," Dr. Zola said, walking to the Tesseract. "Amazing! The energy we have just collected could power my designs. All my designs." He pulled his goggles off. "This will change the war."_

"Even started a new one," Steve muttered to himself. Tony nodded, overhearing Steve.

"_Dr. Zola," Schmidt said, walking behind him. "this will change the world."_

**That's it for now!**


	4. Chapter 4

_The camera went down a row of men, most of them snickering and talking among themselves. Then there was Steve, who looked unsure and a bit nervous. He waited for instruction, ignoring the men around him. He was noticeably the shortest of all._

"_Recruits, attention," a woman's sharp voice called, and the camera turned to face a woman with auburn curls walking briskly towards them. She wore a dark lipstick and had a British accent._

"Peggy," Steve breathed, his eyes staring intently at the woman he had once loved.

Tony didn't like the way Steve was looking at Peggy, even if she was on the screen and not here. He didn't like the look of love that filled his eyes, and it fueled the jealousy in him. Tony Stark got jealous easily, and this was one of those times. "Well, that's the 1940's version of her," Tony said casually, about to wrap his arm around Steve's waist. "Now she's either de-"

A plastic bowl hit his head, and he turned to glare at the one who had thrown it. Bruce looked back at him, his eyes flickering from Tony to Steve as a signal, _Tony, stop being an ass and look at Steve_.

Tony's jealousy died down when he did look at Steve, his arm dropping Steve's waist. Steve's jaw was clenched as he stared down at the ground, his hands curled tightly around the bowl in his hands.

"Oh, fuck," Tony muttered. "Steve, shit, I didn't mean-"

"Just stop," he said quietly, calmly. "JARVIS, continue the movie."

Tony looked helplessly towards Natasha and Clint, but they both looked confused and clueless like him at Steve's reaction. Anything was better than this; yelling, raging, but nothing came from the soldier. Tony didn't mean it, honestly (or maybe he did, but was just unwilling to admit it). It was just… a reaction.

_The man carrying clipboards began passing them out as Peggy spoke. "Gentlemen, I am Agent Carter. I supervise all operations for this division."_

_"What's with the accent, Queen Victoria?" one man asked cockily. "I thought I was signing up for the US Army."_

_"What's your name, soldier?" she stepped forward._

_"Girlmore Hodge, Your Majesty."_

_"Step forward, Hodge."_

_Hodge did so, looking over at his buddies._

_"Put your right foot forward," Agent Carter demanded._

_"We gonna wrassle?" This caught Steve's attention. "'Cause I got a few moves I know you'll like." He winked to accentuate what he meant._

_Agent Carter pulled her fist back and slammed it straight into his face, which he fell to the ground._

"Ohhhhhhhh!" Clint yelled. Thor snorted in laughter, and Natasha could only sit there and smirk.

"Never underestimate a lady," she purred, looking specifically at Clint.

"Okay, hey, that was one time!" he cried, which brought a laugh from the redhead.

Steve smiled slightly. He had always loved Peggy's power and fierceness. He briefly looked at Tony, who was staring at the screen with an emotionless expression.

_On screen, Steve grinned at the sight._

_"Agent Carter!" a rough voice called out._

_"Colonel Phillips," she said cooly._

_"I can see that you are breaking the candidates in," he said, walking past her. "That's good." He looked down at a disgruntled Hodge. "Get your ass up out of that dirt and stand in the line at attention till somebody comes and tells you what to do." The man scrambled up and in line._

Clint snickered at this. _Serves him right,_ he thought. He glanced down at Natasha, running a hand through her hair, who looked like she was thinking the same thing.

_"Yes, sir!" he said._

_Colonel Phillips paused for a few moments before starting his speech. "General Patton has said that wars are fought with weapons, but they are won by men. We are going to win this war because we have the best men." He looked at Steve, then Dr. Erskine, and added on, "And because they are going to get better. Much better." He started walking away, and Steve looked over at him once he started leaving. The scene changed to books being pulled out of a drawer. "The Strategic Scientific Reserve is an Allied effort made up of the best minds in the free world." The books belonged to Steve, who was sitting down on his bed. A whistle blowed and changed to the scene of men climbing rope. "Our goal is to create the best army in the world. But every army starts with one man." Steve fell on the rope, his legs getting caught._

Clint silently laughed. "Oh god, Steve! And to think now you could do that with no problem!" Natasha hit his chest, though she silently agreed. Actually, everyone in the room agreed, just not voicing it aloud like their fellow team member did.

Steve shrugged lightly. "I wasn't very athletic," he muttered.

_"Rogers! Get off of there!" A man yelled, and the camera showed Hodge laughing at Steve. The scene changed to show Steve struggling to get through the crawlspace with his weapon._

_"At the end of this week we will choose that man," Colonel Phillips continued. "He will be the first in a new breed of super-soldier." Hodge turned around and kicked the post, causing the barbwire to fall on Steve._

_The sergeant walked over briskly. "Rogers! Get that rifle out of the mud!"_

"DON'T BE AN ASSWAFFLE!" the god of thunder boomed angrily, shaking his fist at the screen.

All the Avengers (with the exception of Steve and Tony who both just smiled) burst out laughing at the god's choice of words.

"Asswaffle, Thor?" Bruce chuckled.

"I heard it from somewhere. It sounded like a.. better derogatory term than asshole."

"I've never heard him cuss before," Clint gasped.

"Now you have," Natasha grinned.

_"And they will personally escort Adolf Hitler to the gates of Hell."_

"I never did, did I?" Steve said to himself, musing over what the Colonel had said.

_The scene changed to the squad running, one man lagging farther behind than the rest. "Pick up the pace, ladies!" the seargant yelled, running beside them. A flag was flowing, _CAMP LEHIGH _standing proudly in bold under the symbol. "Let's go, let's go. Double time!"_

_The camera moved to the Jeep that was waiting on the side, where Peggy was flipping through some papers. A soldier who was sitting by her heard the yelling, and both turned to look at the squad coming closer to them and the flag. "Come on, faster! Faster!" he continued to yell. "Move! Move!"_

_Finally they came to a stop when the command, "Squad, halt!" and Steve, who was farther behind, kept walking to catch up. Meanwhile, the squad leader continued to talk. "That flag means we're only at the halfway point." he pointed to the _CAMP LEHIGH _flag. Steve bent over, his hands on his knees to support himself, catching his breath. "First man to bring it to me gets a ride back with Agent Carter."_

_Immediately men swarmed the flagpole, jumping and reaching for the flag. They fought deperately for it. "Move, move!" the squad leader continued to yell, watching the men scramble over the tops of each other. "Come on! Get up there!"_

Thor snorted. "It's amusing, watching them reach, climb and fail. Please, Captain, tell me you got the flag?"

Steve looked over at Thor, a small smile gracing his lips. "Oh, you'll have to watch to find out."

Thor frowned slightly, wanting to know. Natasha, Clint, Bruce and Tony knew the outcome already from the soldier's response.

_"Nobody's got that flag in 17 years! Now fall back into line! Come on, fall in! Let's go! Get back in formation!" All the men reluctantly (but quickly) jogged back to their places._

_Except for one._

_Steve walked to the flag pole, looking up to the flag._

_"Rogers! I said fall in!"_

_Steve, however, ignored him as he leaned down and took the piece of metal holding the flag pole up, out. The flag and pole both fell to the ground, Steve walking forward to retrieve it. The squadron leader was speechless, just watching the man. Peggy, however, had a look of amusement at the wit of the soldier._

"Yeahhh, way to go Steve!" Clint whooped.

"So you did do it!" Thor clapped his hands together and nodded. "Good job, Captain, and a good way to use skill of the brain too."

Steve wasn't sure how to respond, so he just smiled slightly. "Thanks.."

_Steve balled up the flag into his hands, passing it to the squad leader with a quiet, "Thank you, sir." and pulled himself into the Jeep. Peggy grinned at his comment, turning back around. Hodge looked pissed, and the rest of the squad looked either pissed with him or speechless/baffled._

_Peggy turned to give him a brief smile which he returned, and off the Jeep went._

_The scene changed to the men in on their hands and feet, doing push-ups. Peggy was standing in front, a hand on her hips as she watched over them. "Faster, ladies! Come on."_

_Steve's arms shook as he pushed himself up, dropping to the ground and repeating the cycle._

_"My grandmother has more life in her, God rest her soul."_

This earned a few chuckles from around the room.

_The camera returned to Steve, who was struggling horribly._

"Steve," Bruce raised an eyebrow. "I don't know how you lived in boot camp, of all things, like that."

Steve nodded. "It was difficult."

_The camera turned to Colonel Phillips and Dr. Erskine walked to the men. "You're not really thinking about picking Rogers, are you?" Phillips grunted._

_"I'm more than just thinking about it. He is the clear choice," the doctor said, sounding firm in his decision._

_"When you brought a 90-pound asthmatic onto my army base-"_

"Wait, you were 90 pounds?" Bruce raised an eyebrow. "Because.. that just doesn't sound right."

"No, no, I was over 90 pounds. Not by much, but I was."

Bruce just looked back to the screen, surprised a bit, but not saying anything more about it.

_"I let is slide. I thought, 'What the hell.' Maybe he'd be useful to you, like a gerbil. I never thought you'd pick him."_

_"Up," Peggy commanded as the Colonel and doctor came closer._

_Steve was the last to rise, the men already standing in formation by the time he stood._

_"You stick a needle in that kid's arm, it's gonna go right through him."_

"Exaggeration," Natasha said quickly to stop Thor's oncoming question. He just nodded.

"Okay. That didn't sound very possible," Thor said.

_"Look at that," Phillips gestured to Steve who was doing jumping jacks. "He's making me cry."_

_"I am looking for qualities beyond the physical," Dr. Erskine said, trying to be patient with the Colonel. _

_"Do you know how long it took to set up this project? All the groveling I had to do in front of Senator What's-His-Name's committees?"_

_"Brandt. Yes, I know. I am well aware of your efforts."_

_"Then throw me a bone. Hodge passed every test we have him. He's big, he's fast. He obeys orders. He's a soldier!"_

_"He is a bully," Dr. Erskine said, staring at Colonel Phillips._

_"You don't win wars with niceness, Doctor," the Colonel said, walkign around him and reaching into a box and pulling out a grenade, pulling the safety pin out. "You win wars with guts."_

"Shit, don't tell me he's going to do what he's going to do," Clint stared at the screen, his eyes wide.

Tony nodded. "He better not," he said in a low tone.

"He doesn't," Steve reassured.

"It doesn't look like it!" Tony shot Steve an upset look.

Steve looked down at the genius. "Trust me."

_Colonel Phillips threw the grenade towards the jumping men. "Grenade!" he yelled loudly. One look at the grenade and all the men went running for cover._

_Steve ran straight for the grenade._

He was hit in the chest by a bowl. "You didn't do that!" Bruce yelled, the owner of the thrown bowl. "Do you know how stupid and reckless that was?"

"Self sacrifice, a military trait," Steve replied, his eyes flickering over each Avenger. Natasha looked indifferent about it, Clint was surprised along with Thor, Bruce was still shaking his head and Tony was straight up pissed.

_Steve jumped onto the grenade, his body curling on top of it as men ran._

_"Get away!" he yelled, waving his hand to wave off anyone who came near. "Get back!" His eyes were closed, waiting for the explosion that didn't come. He was shaking from fear, his hands clenched._

_Slowly he raised his head, realizing that the 'grenade' wasn't really going to explode. It was just a dummy. He sat up quickly, looking around in a dazed fashion. "Is this a test?" he asked._

_Dr. Erskine looked at Colonel Phillips, who couldn't argue any more. "He's still skinny," he said in a final defense, moving away from the scene, leaving a triumphant and amused Dr. Erskine behind._

_The scene changed to Steve on his bed, reading a book. A knock sounded and Dr. Erskine stepped in, Steve looking away from his book to the man._

_"May I?"_

_"Yeah," he said, shutting the book._

_"Can't sleep?"_

_"I got the jitters, I guess," Steve watched Dr. Erskine as he sat down on the bed across from him, a bottle in his hand._

_"Me too."_

"Were you freaked out when you first heard they chose you?" Bruce asked curiously.

"Yeah, a little. It's not every day you get chosen to have a serum tested on you, and to be honest, I wasn't sure about it. But.." he trailed off. "I'm glad I didn't let nerves get the best of me."

_"Can I ask you a question? _

_"Just one?"_

_Steve glanced down, then back at the Doctor. "Why me?"_

_"I suppose that is the only question that matters," Dr. Erskine said, his fingers playing with the neck of the bottle he was holding on his knee. "This is fron Augsburg. My city." He said, gesturing to the bottle of wine, holding it back so Steve could see. "So many people forget that the first country the Nazis invaded was their own. You know, after the last war, my people struggled. They felt weak. They felt small. And then Hitler comes along with the marching and the big show and the flags." He paused, taking a deep breath and pushing his glasses back._

_"And he hears of me. My work. And he finds me. And he says, 'You.' He says, 'You will make us strong.' Well, I am not interested. So he send the head of Hydra, his research division. A brilliant scientist by the name of Johann Schmidt. Now, Schmidt is a member of the inner circle. And he is ambitious."_

_There was a picture of Johann Schmidt, the swastika on a flag behind him._

_"He and Hitler share a passion for occult power and Teutonic myth." Drawings of mythology appeared as well. "Hitler uses his fantasies to inspire his followers." Dr. Erskine was shown once again, explaining this to Steve with a hand gesture. "But for Schmidt, it is not a fantasy."_

"So this is where the tesseract comes in, yes?" Thor said, glancing over at Steve.

"Yes, in a way. He believed in the Tesseract, and it is not part of 'fantasy'."

_"For him, it is real. He has become conviced that there is a great power hidden in the earth, left here by the gods, waiting to be seized by a superior man."_

"But it isn't for mankind's hands," Natasha murmured, shaking her head.

_"So when he hears about my formula and what it can do, he cannot resist." A scene showed Schmidt yelling at Erskine, then holding a gun held up at him. "Schmidt must become that superior man." Something that Schmidt said made Erskine shake his head no, and something was injected into Schmidt._

_"Did it make him stronger?" Steve asked._

_"Yes," Dr. Erskine nodded. "but there were other effects."_

"Like his skin," Steve muttered to himself, which made everyone look at him curiously. "Nothing, you'll see."

_"The serum was not ready. But more important, the man. The serum amplifies everything that is inside, so good becomes great, bad becomes worse." He paused, a silence filling the air as Steve thought over this._

_"This is why you were chosen," Dr. Erskine said finally, catching Steve's attention immediately. "Because a strong man who has known power all his life may lose respect for that power, but a weak man knows the value of strength. And knows compassion."_

"That does sound like Steve," Bruce said, the side of his mouth twitching up.

Steve just looked awkwardly at the screen, though everyone else chuckled at the true comment.

_Steve didn't say anything for a moment, his gaze dropping to the ground. "Thanks. I think." he said quietly, looking back up at him with the smallest of smiles._

_Dr. Erskine leaned down, for the bottle at his feet and gestured for Steve to grab the two glasses on top of his trunk. Steve reached over, taking the glass carefully as Dr. Erskine opened the bottle and started pouring it into the two glasses._

_"Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing," he said as he put the screw back in the bottle and setting it back down while taking one of the glasses from Steve. "That you will stay who you are."_

Steve clenched his jaw as he heard the words again. He hadn't exactly understood then, but now he did now. He had tried to over think it at first, but what he had said was simple enough. He needed to stay the same as he had been, the same compassion and kind way he had and never change it for power or manipulation.

_Steve stared at him as he continued to talk. "Not a perfect soldier, but a good man." He pointed towards Steve's heart._

Steve shifted as he saw this, rubbing his hands over his face. It was the first time the man had done this, one of two times actually. The second time had been brutal, and he was sure the rest of the team would see soon why. Steve finally pulled his hands away, though he felt like he wanted to stop the movie and leave for some fresh air. He kept a straight face, and only one Avenger saw his personal moment.

Tony watched the soldier, noticing something that correlated the gesture that doctor had made and how Steve (present Steve) was acting. He wanted to put an arm around him, pat his shoulder, something, but he wasn't sure how Steve would act about it. So he just turned his head back towards the screen, his attention partly on Steve at the same time.

_Steve moved a bit, his mouth opening like he was going to say something but stopped. Finally, he raised his glass. "To the little guys." And they both clinked their glasses._

_Steve went to take a drink, but Dr. Erskine stopped. "No, no. Wait, wait. What am I doing?" Steve looked utterly confused. "No, you have procedure tomorrow. No fluids."_

_"All right. We'll drink it after."_

Steve's emotionless facade dropped into a sorrowful expression which Tony saw, and instantly he knew what had happened to the Doctor. He finally raised his hand and set it on Steve's shoulder, to which Steve turned and saw Tony. Steve gave him the best forced smile he could, but the genius knew he was trying his best to stay calm. Tony was reminded of him and Yinsen, but quickly shook away the thought. They both turned toward the screen, Tony's hand still on Steve's shoulder.

_"No, I don't have procedure tomorrow. Drink it after? I drink it now." This made Steve smile._

_The scene changed to a record player, loud opera music playing. The camera showed a door, which Dr. Zola came in through. It was clear he was in some sort of lab. He slowed as he moved up some steps, a file tucked under his arm. A black glove flicked a switch, and the lights turned off._

_"Is there something in particular you need?" Schmidt asked, only showing his shadow._

_Dr. Zola looked down, seeing red paints (?) on a palet. His gaze traveled up to the artist, who looked back at him. "I understand you found him," he finally said._

_"See for yourself."_

_Dr. Zola started to walk forward, something capturing his eye. They were photos of Dr. Erskine walking about Manhattan, and perhaps other places._

_"You dissaprove," Schmidt said._

_"I just don't see why you need concern yourself," Dr. Zola said, trying to clear up his mistake. "I can't imagine he will succeed."_

_Schmidt looked unpleased from his silence and body movements._

_"...Again," Dr. Zola said, his smile faltering._

_"His serum is the Allies' only defense against this power we now possess. If we take it away from them, then our victory is assured."_

_Dr. Zola nodded slightly. "Shall I give the order?"_

_"It has been given."_

_Dr. Zola nodded again, his expression changed into something of fear. "Good." He slowly turned and started to make his way back out of the lab._

_"Dr. Zola!" Schmidt called, stopping the man in his tracks. Lights flashed on, but Schmidt was not shown. "What do you think?"_

Clint groaned. "Why aren't we shown what he looks like?"

"I have no idea, but you don't want to know," Steve said darkly, his mood further ruined from the discussion between Zola and Schmidt.

Natasha heard the tone in his voice, taken aback a bit, but didn't have time to comment on it before the movie started again.

_The short, balding man started to walk back towards him, taking a look at the painting and then to Schmidt, nodding. "A masterpiece," he agreed, then turned around once again and left. The artist started his painting again._

* * *

**I can't even start to explain how sorry I am! It's been over a few months since I've last posted a chapter! Well, I still haven't gotten Microsoft Word up so Wordpad it is for now. I can deal with it. Thank you so much to everyone for so many follows and favorites and reviews! They make me happy. :)**

**-KayTheCap**


	5. Chapter 5

_The scene started with boys in the street, playing baseball. They couldn't look older than 13. A black car drove past them, and showed the two sitting in the back seat. Peggy and Steve. Steve looked out the window as they drove._

_"I know this neighborhood. I got beat up in that alley. And that parking lot." Peggy raised her eyebrows, turning to look at the seat in front of her. "...And behind that diner."_

"Steve, jeez. You got beat up everywhere, didn't you?" Bruce shook his head, frowning as he looked to the supersoldier who shrugged.

"Yeah, nice way to start a conversation, isn't it?" Clint scoffed, and this earned another shrug from Steve.

_"Did you have something against running away?" Peggy asked, her attention in front of her._

_Steve shook his head for a few moments before he spoke again. "You start running , they'll never let you stop. You stand up, you push back. They can't say no forever, right?" he turned to look out the window again._

_"I know a little of what that's like, to have every door shut in your face." She looked annoyed as she said that._

_"I guess I just don't know why you'd want to join the Army if you were a beautiful dame."_

"We have got to get you to break you of that habit," Natasha huffed.

"What? What habit?" Steve looked confused.

"'Beautiful dame'," she mocked.

"Oh.."

_"Or a... A woman," he corrected himself. "An agent. Not a dame." Peggy turned to look at the rambling Steve. "You are beautiful, but..." He made a gesture with his hand._

Clint busted up laughing. "Steve, oh my god, you sound so awkward!"

Tony half smiled at Steve's rambling. It seemed the soldier did it a lot, especially when he was nervous. Tony realized how much this woman must have mattered to Steve, and though he felt bad for his outburst, he still couldn't help the small flame of jealousy. He just shrugged it off the best he could, leaning against the arm of the chair as he stared at the face of the girl Steve loved (or loves).

_Peggy shook her head slightly, a look of amusement on her face. "You have no idea how to talk to a woman, do you?"_

"No, no he doesn't! Even Thor could do better."

Natasha raised an eyebrow at Clint, as though to say he better shut up. He did, smiling cheesily at her as he did and leaning his chin on her shoulder. She just shook her head and turned back to the movie, though she couldn't fight the smile back.

_Steve had a grin on his face. "I think this is the longest conversation I've had with one. Women aren't exactly lining up to dance with a guy they might step on." He looked down, his grin gone as he said this._

_"You must have danced," she said quietly._

_"Well, asking a woman to dance always seemed so terrifying. And the past few years, it just," he gave a one shouldered shrug as he looked up, though he kept his gaze away from Peggy. "didn't seem to matter that much. I figured I'd wait."_

_"For what?" she said, watching him closely as he kept away from looking at her._

_"The right partner," he said._

Steve glanced out of the corner of his eye at Tony as he heard himself say this. As much as he loved (even now) Peggy, he and Tony were closer. He loved Tony more than he would ever love Peggy, and that was saying a lot. Finally, he laid his arm around Tony's shoulders, a look of relief passing over Tony's face. Steve could tell Tony was about to make a sarcastic comment, but he left it for another time.

_Peggy could only smile at Steve's answer, looking away from him at last._

_Moments later, the car pulled in front of a store named 'Brooklyn Antiques'._

_"This way," Peggy said as both she and Steve stepped out of the car, following her into the store._

_"What are we doing here?" he asked confusedly._

_"Follow me," Peggy simply said. They both came into the shop, Peggy looking for the owner of the shop._

_An older lady soon stepped out of a curtain-type divider, coming towards Peggy. "Wonderful weather this morning, isn't it?" she asked, and Steve could tell there was something faked in her voice._

_"Yes, but I always carry an umbrella," Peggy replied._

_The older woman went behind a counter, pressing a button under the counter. The camera moved down to show a gun sitting below._

Natasha smirked. "Clever, that is."

_Peggy and Steve came through another curtain, a desk set up and a shelf with a bunch of older books sitting on top of it. However, they walked towards the bookshelf, which swung forward as if they were in a mystery movie to reveal a whole different room, or in this case, hallway. _

_Steve looked around, incredulous. He'd never seen such a thing before, but Peggy kept walking like she saw this every day. Men and women all wore the standard Military uniform as they stepped forward to see who was entering._

_As they neared the two large doors, they were swung open by two uniformed men before either could touch the doors themselves._

_Steve came to the railing, staring over what was a terrifying looking lab. There was buttons and levers and blinking lights that made Steve nervous as he took it all in, his hands clutching the black, thin railing._

"Nothing we ever usually see in the 1940's," Steve said. "Now-a-days you see technology everywhere.."

Tony snorted. "You're sounding like a grandfather. 'Back in my day..'"

"Shut up," Steve chuckled, and the rest of the Avengers were glad to see they had made a non-verbal truce.

_As Steve stared down at them, they also stared back up at him. He looked over toward Peggy, who had been staring back at him. She turned and started down the stairs towards the lab technicians and Dr. Erskine._

_Steve came up the platform, Dr. Erskine meeting him half way. "Good morning," the doctor said, reaching out his hand for Steve to shake, which Steve took and shook._

_The flash of a camera popped, and Steve looked to the side where a man with a camera stood. "Please, not now," Dr. Erskine said._

_Steve looked back over at what looked like to be a small chamber, with many things that he really didn't want to know what they were sticking out._

"So you were in there?" Bruce said, his claustrophobia coming out just by looking at the small silver chamber.

Steve nodded. "It was terrifying, to say in the least."

_"Are you ready?" Dr. Erskine asked._

_Steve just nodded, still staring. Dr. Erskine also nodded, watching Steve._

"You don't look so ready, Captain," Thor chuckled.

_"Good. Take off your shirt, your tie, and your hat."_

_Steve awkwardly started to take off such articles of clothing, handing his stuff to someone nearby._

_Colonel Phillips stepped into the viewing box, coming to greet a well-dressed man. "Senator Brandt, glad you could make it."_

_"Why exactly am I in Brooklyn?" the Senator said, shaking the Colonel's hand._

_"We needed access to the city's power grid," Colonel Phillips said, looking down out of the glass window. "Of course, if you'd given me the generators I requisitioned..."_

_"A lot of people are asking for funds, Colonel," Senator Brandt cut him off, turning around and gesturing to a man. "This is..."_

_"Fred Clemson, State Department," Clemson held out his hand for Colonel Phillips to shake, which he took and shook indeed. "if this project of yours comes through, we'd like to see it used for something other than headlines."_

_"Jesus. Somebody get that kid a sandwich," the Senator said, looking down at Steve._

There were snickers from a few of the Avengers (namely Clint, Thor, and Tony).

_Steve, meanwhile, pulled himself up and laid back into the chamber, moving to find a comfortable spot. He clearly looked nervous, and Dr. Erskine walked over towards him._

_"Comfortable?" he asked, noticing Steve's moving around._

_Steve chuckled, slightly smiling at Dr. Erskine. "It's a little big." This made Dr. Erskine smile. "You save me any of that schnapps?"_

_"Not as much as I should have, sorry. Next time." After a few moments, Dr. Erskine stepped back. "Mr. Stark, how are your levels?"_

_"Levels at 100%," Howard stepped close to Peggy._

Tony scowled slightly at the sight of his father. He kept forgetting that his father was in Steve's life, and to be honest, he wasn't looking forward to it.

Steve tightened his hold around Tony slightly, as if reading his mind without looking at him.

_"Good," Dr. Erskine said, moving away._

_"We may dim half the lights in Brooklyn," Howard said, coming up to stand by Steve. "but we are ready... as we'll ever be."_

_"Agent Carter?" Dr. Erskine pointed up towards the booth, adjusting his glasses. "Don't you think you would be more comfortable in the booth?"_

_Peggy immediately nodded. "Yes, of course. Sorry." As she was walking away, she turned to glance at Steve one more time, as though she hadn't wanted to leave his side._

_Steve turned his head, staring up at the ceiling as he prepared himself for what would come. Even if he didn't know what it was._

"That looks really uncomfortable," Bruce commented.

_Dr. Erskine held a microphone in his hand as he looked up to the booth where everyone else stood. He flicked the microphone twice to get the attention of everyone, which it certainly did. "Do you hear me? Is this on?" Dr. Erskine asked. "Ladies and gentlemen, today we take not another step toward annihilation, but the first step on the path to peace." Steve was shown, his face set firm in an expression of forced confidence as two metal things (I have no idea) were set onto his chest._

"I'm almost afraid to ask what those are," Natasha said, staring at the screen.

_A case was opened to seven vials of blue serum. "We begin with a series of microinjections into the subject's major muscle groups."_

"It makes you sound like a lab rat when he says 'subject'," Tony scoffed.

_"The serum infusion will cause immediate cellular change." All vials but one were taken out and put into slots on either side of Steve. "And then, to stimulate growth, the subject will be saturated with Vita-Rays." As Dr. Erskine set the microphone down and came to stand by Steve, another lab tech came and pushed a shot into Steve's arm, causing him to wince._

_Once it was over, Steve slightly opened his eyes. "That wasn't so bad," he said rough._

_"...That was penicillin," Dr. Erskine replied._

"What's penicillin?" Thor asked, frowning.

"An antibiotic," Bruce answered. "It's usually used to treat diseases and/or infections."

_Steve looked over at Dr. Erskine, his eyes widening. Dr. Erskine just gave a slight shrug, turning hsi head. "Serum infusion beginning in five, four," Two needle induced pads pushed onto Steve's arms, his eyebrows furrowed as he waited. "three, two," Dr. Erskine set a hand on Steve's shoulder. "one."_

_A lever was pulled, and immediately the vials started to empty. It was all Steve could do from crying out in pain, his face contorted as the serum was emptied into his arm. _

"I do not like this. Why does it have to cause Captain pain?" Thor frowned as he watched the television closely.

"It wasn't that ba.." Steve trailed off at the glares of Tony and Natasha.

"'Not that bad' my ass," Tony huffed. "You looked like you were going to burst."

"Yeah, but that was when-"

"Steve, I don't care if that was pre-serum or not. Just shut up," he said, his dark eyes clearly expressing his irritation.

Steve just turned his head back to the screen, with a small shrug. Had he been in a better mood, he probably would have smiled and provoked Tony farther with his laugh or smile. However, he wasn't quite in the mood from what he knew was coming next.

_His eyes opened wide, and Dr. Erskine turned to look at Howard. "Now, Mr. Stark."_

_Another lever was pulled, this time slower. The chamber in which Steve was in moved up, so that he was standing up straight and the chamer was shut. The only way to look in our out was a window at the top, where not even Steve's head reached. A hose was pushed in and secured._

_Dr. Erskine knocked below the window. "Steven? Can you hear me?" He then stood on his tiptoes a bit, trying to peer in the window._

_"It's probably too late to go to the bathroom, right?" came Steve's muffled reply._

All the Avengers turned to look at Steve, which he stared back at them with wide eyes. "What?"

"You really didn't just say something like that, did you?" Clint raised an eyebrow, an ear-splitting grin on his face.

Natasha just smirked, patting Clint's shoulder. "You clearly don't listen to him enough, he's said /plenty/ of sassy things since we've met him."

"Yeah, I know ,but..."

"Captain, you were joking, right?"

"Yeah, Thor. I was, but-"

"Dude, why have I never heard any of this-"

"Because maybe if you-"

Steve stared at the two arguing Avengers, waiting patiently for them to realize that everyone was waiting for them to stop. Natasha, being the 'cool-headed' person she was, smoothed her hair out and sat up straight. Clint didn't do such things, instead slouching, but stopped arguing.

"You know, I'd think you were married."

"This oaf doesn't know how to propose, so no, not as of yet," Tony grinned, staring at Clint, who scowled back at him.

"If we could all save our comments for later," Bruce said dryly. "I'd like to get back on track."

As soon as everyone settled back down (Steve and Tony leaning against each other, Bruce in his own seat, Thor in front of him on the floor, and Natasha laying across Clint again on the couch), JARVIS unpaused the movie.

_Dr. Erskine turned around, nodding to Howard. "We will proceed."_

_Howard moved sideways to another panel, moving a dial forward. Everyone in the booth looked slightly nervous. Everyone started to put shades on that were down in the lab, and Howard moved to another dial, much larger this time. It was shaped more like a steering wheel, and he started turning it slowly._

_"That's 10%." A bright light started to come from the chamber in which Steve was. "Twenty percent. Thirty." Dr. Erskine winced, shielding his eyes from the bright light. "That's 40%."_

_"Vital signs are normal," another man called._

_"That's 50%," Howard also said, turning around to look. "Sixty. Seventy."_

_There came a yell of pain from inside the chamber._

All the Avengers (minus Steve, who was the one who had lived through it) either had serious expressions or were wincing at the yell from Steve. Hell, even Steve barely remembered this part. He just remembered a lot of pain, but that was it.

_"Steven!" Dr. Erskine yelled "Steven!" He pounded on the glass window as Steve continued to yell out._

_"Shut it down!" Peggy shouted, came to a halt at the railing. "Shut it down!" she shouted louder._

_"Kill the reactor, Mr. Stark! Turn it off! Kill it! Kill the reactor!" Dr. Erskine repeatedly barked._

_"No!" came the strangled sounding cry. "Don't! I can do this!"_

_It was a moment before anyone did anything, but Howard finally jumped into action. He kept rotating the dial. "Eighty." It was becoming too bright in the room. "Ninety. That's 100%!" The control panels began to spark, and suddenly the light from inside the chamber dimmed._

_Everyone waited anxiously._

The Avengers knew the outcome, of course, but Thor couldn't help leaning in, worried about the Captain. Who knows if there were any side effects? Or injuries?

_"Mr. Stark?" Dr. Erskine hollered, and suddenly the chamber opened to a sweating ,much larger and more muscular Steve Rogers._

_Dr. Erskine rushed forward, taking his arm. "Steven. Steven." He started to guide him out._

Thor grinned, relieved to see that their team leader had turned out fine after all.

_Colonel Phillips shook his head. "The son of a bitch did it." _

_Everyone stood up, and so did Fred Clemson. However, something was left behind in his seat._

Tony frowned, remembering the story of the explosion his father had once told him about. He couldn't help but feel like this might have something to do with it.

_Steve was helped out by Howard and Dr. Erskine, leaning heavily on both._

_"I did it," he panted._

_"Yeah, yeah. I think we did it," Dr. Erskine replied._

_"You actually did it," Howard looked appalled. _

_Peggy ran up to Steve, out of breath and speechless. "How do you feel?"_

"Probably like a million trucks had run over you, right?" Bruce looked towards Steve.

Steve shook his head. "Not that bad.."

_Steve was staring around, his chest still heaving. "Taller," came the one word reply._

_"Uhm, you look taller," Peggy replied, taking a shirt and unfolding it to hand to Steve._

_"How do you like Brooklyn now, Senator?" Colonel Phillips said into the Senator's ear before passing by him._

_"I can think of some folks of in Berlin who are about to get very nervous," Senator Brandt replied._

_As everyone else celebrated, Fred Clemson stood far behind everyone and stared around._

"That guy is definitely up to something," Clint muttered.

Steve's hand was holding tightly on the arm of the couch as he tried to keep from glaring at the screen, Tony's arm wrapped around him in support. "Oh trust me, he is."

Clint looked confused, but just looked but at the screen.

_As Dr. Erskine was talking, he turned and saw Clemson, who stared back at him. Then, he pulled a lighter out of his pocket. Dr. Erskine knew immediately something was going to happen._

_As he flicked the lighter, the entire booth blew up. People ducked, covering their heads._

_"Stop him!" Dr. Erskine shouted, but Clemson pulled a gun out of his suit and shot Dr. Erskine twice in the chest._

Steve felt as though he was reliving the moment, not being able to stop the small  
"No!" he immediately gasped. He clenched his jaw, fighting back any emotion that threatened to overwhelm him.

There was complete silence as everyone in the room stared at the screen. No one wanted to look at Steve. Tony tightened his hold around Steve, like Steve had done earlier, but it didn't seem to help the blonde at all.

_As Steve pushed through people to get to Dr. Erskine, who laid on the floor, Clemson started running and shooting anyone who got in his way. Peggy, luckily, pulled her gun out quickly and managed to shoot him in the arm._

_Steve leaned over the shot Dr. Erskine, who stared back up at him. There was more shots in the hallway, and Peggy ran to follow him as Steve continued to stare in disbelief at Dr. Erskine._

_Only one gesture was given, no words coming from the Doctor's mouth. He raised his arm, poking his finger to Steve's chest as a reminder, 'Not a perfect soldier, but a good man.'_

_As the hand dropped, Steve looked up, trembling._

_Finally, Dr. Erskine's eyes closed. Steve looked up, anger consuming him._

"JARVIS, please pause," Steve muttered. "I need a minute, please, I'm sorry." He didn't even wait for a response, just standing and leaving the moment his past life story had been paused.

Steve ran as fast as he could, up the stairs and onto the deck where he sat down on a left out chair, calming himself with deep breaths and pulling his hands through his hair. He was trying hard not to think about what happened when a hand was placed on his shoulder. Thor stood there with a small smile, sitting down next to him.

"It'll be okay, Captain," the god of thunder said, removing his hand and sitting down. "Do not worry."

As upset as he was at the present moment, the words from the god had made him smile. "Thanks, Thor."

The god of thunder returned the smile.

They sat in silence for just a few, short minutes before deciding to head back inside.

* * *

**If I had gone on any longer, I couldn't really have stopped at a good part for you guys. It would have made this chapter uber long! Haha, sorry! But anyways, I just wanted to say that this has been my favorite chapter so far! Especially the beginning and the end (which made me kind of sad to have to write about poor Dr. Erskine's death). I hope you've enjoyed it, and thanks for making me smile when I see the reviews, favorites, and follows! Hopefully I'll be able to continue this chapter every two days type thing. Thanks so much!**

**-KayTheCap**


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